About This Manual

Prestoserve speeds up synchronous disk writes, including NFS server access, by reducing the amount of disk I/O. Prestoserve stores synchronous writes in nonvolatile memory instead of writing them to disk. The stored data is then written to disk asynchronously as needed or when the machine is halted.

This manual shows how to install, use, and monitor Prestoserve.

Audience

This manual is written for the person who manages and maintains the Digital UNIX® operating system. The manual assumes that this individual is familiar with Digital UNIX commands, the system configuration, and the system hardware. This manual also assumes that the Prestoserve hardware is already installed.

Digital has changed the name of its UNIX operating system from DEC OSF/1 to Digital UNIX. The new name reflects Digital's commitment to UNIX and its conformance to UNIX standards.

Organization

This manual consists of four chapters:

Chapter 1 Provides an overview of disk operations, the Network File System (NFS), and Prestoserve.

Chapter 2 Describes how to install the Prestoserve software subset, register the Prestoserve software license, and configure Prestoserve into your kernel. This chapter also contains information about setting up Prestoserve using the prestosetup command and the manual method.

Chapter 3 Describes the Prestoserve states and buffers. This chapter also explains how to manage Prestoserve and how to handle the Prestoserve cache.

Chapter 4 Describes how to recover from a system failure and how to handle disk errors.

Related Documents

You should have the hardware documentation for your system, peripherals, and the Prestoserve hardware. The printed version of the Digital UNIX documentation set is color coded to help specific audiences quickly find the books that meet their needs. (You can order the printed documentation from Digital.) This color coding is reinforced with the use of an icon on the spines of books. The following list describes this convention:

Audience Icon Color Code

General users G Blue

System and network administrators S Red

Programmers P Purple

Device driver writers D Orange

Reference page users R Green

Some books in the documentation set help meet the needs of several audiences. For example, the information in some system books is also used by programmers. Keep this in mind when searching for information on specific topics.

The Documentation Overview, Glossary, and Master Index provides information on all of the books in the Digital UNIX documentation set.

Reader's Comments

Digital welcomes any comments and suggestions you have on this and other Digital UNIX manuals.

You can send your comments in the following ways:

Fax: 603-881-0120 Attn: UEG Publications, ZK03-3/Y32
Internet electronic mail: readers_comment@zk3.dec.com
A Reader's Comment form is located on line in the following location:
```
/usr/doc/readers_comment.txt
```
Mail:
Digital Equipment Corporation
UEG Publications Manager
ZK03-3/Y32
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A Reader's Comment form is located in the back of each printed manual. The form is postage paid if you mail it in the United States.

Please include the following information along with your comments:

The full title of the book and the order number. (The order number is printed on the title page of this book and on its back cover.)
The section numbers and page numbers of the information on which you are commenting.
The version of Digital UNIX that you are using.
If known, the type of processor that is running the Digital UNIX software.

The Digital UNIX Publications group cannot respond to system problems or technical support inquiries. Please address technical questions to your local system vendor or to the appropriate Digital technical support office. Information provided with the software media explains how to send problem reports to Digital.

Conventions

The following conventions are used in this manual:

# A number sign represents the superuser prompt.

% cat Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.

file Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.

[ | ]
{ | } In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.

. . . In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.

cat(1) A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.

Chapter 1	Provides an overview of disk operations, the Network File System (NFS), and Prestoserve.
Chapter 2	Describes how to install the Prestoserve software subset, register the Prestoserve software license, and configure Prestoserve into your kernel. This chapter also contains information about setting up Prestoserve using the `prestosetup` command and the manual method.
Chapter 3	Describes the Prestoserve states and buffers. This chapter also explains how to manage Prestoserve and how to handle the Prestoserve cache.
Chapter 4	Describes how to recover from a system failure and how to handle disk errors.

Audience	Icon	Color Code
General users	G	Blue
System and network administrators	S	Red
Programmers	P	Purple
Device driver writers	D	Orange
Reference page users	R	Green

`#`	A number sign represents the superuser prompt.
`%` `cat`	Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.
`file`	Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.
[ \| ] { \| }	In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.
. . .	In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.
`cat`(1)	A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, `cat`(1) indicates that you can find information on the `cat` command in Section 1 of the reference pages.